Pubdate: Tue, 01 Dec 2015
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.ottawacitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Elizabeth Payne
Page: A2

INJECTION SITES SAVE MONEY: STUDY

Less Expensive Than Hep C Drugs

Opening two supervised injection sites in Ottawa would save the 
health system money, new analysis suggests.

Ahmed Bayoumi, a medical researcher with St. Michael's Hospital in 
Toronto, called supervised injection sites a "good investment in 
health dollars."

He is among authors of a report looking at the potential 
cost-effectiveness of supervised injection facilities in Toronto and 
Ottawa. The study was published Monday in the journal Addiction.

Bayoumi and others updated analysis they conducted in 2012 in light 
of dramatic new treatment for hepatitis C. Drugs that treat and even 
cure hepatitis C are now available, but they are costly, which means 
strategies to reduce the spread of hepatitis C by injection drug 
users could save the health system substantial money, Bayoumi said.

That is a key issue in Ottawa, where transmission rates of hepatitis 
C and HIV among injection drug users are higher than Toronto.

The research found that over 20 years, one supervised injection 
facility in Ottawa would avert 358 HIV infections and 323 hepatitis C 
infections. One facility would cost $31.5 million in operating costs 
and save $32.3 million in health-care costs, the analysis found.

In fact, the cost benefits in Ottawa would likely be even higher, 
said Rob Boyd, program director at Oasis, which provides health and 
social services to injection-drug users and is working on a proposal 
to become the site of Ottawa's first supervised injection site.

Boyd said the 2012 analysis and its updated version based the costs 
of supervised injection sites on Vancouver's Insite, which is a 
large, stand-alone site.

At Oasis, plans are to set up a supervised injection area in an 
existing site, which already offers harm reduction, including a 
methadone clinic and a needle and pipe exchange. Costs would be 
significantly lower than suggested in the cost-analysis study, he said.

Such a program would offer a "tremendous benefit" for injection-drug 
users, Boyd said, and it is unlikely people in the surrounding 
community would notice much difference.

Ottawa is estimated to have between 1,200 and 2,000 injection drug 
users. Between 40 and 50 of them die every year from overdoses.

Boyd said there is optimism that, with the election of a Liberal 
federal government, new sites will eventually open in Ottawa and 
other cities across Canada. The Conservative government opposed 
supervised injection sites and tried to close Insite in Vancouver.

The Liberal government has said it supports supervised injection and 
other harm-reduction programs. Still, there are significant hurdles 
to overcome for any group interested in applying to open one - 
including needing wide-ranging support from the community and 
officials. Both Mayor Jim Watson and police Chief Charles Bordeleau 
have said they oppose the opening of such a site in Ottawa.

Researchers said it would make more sense to have two smaller 
locations in Ottawa because the injection-drug population is spread 
across the city. But they noted that the decision to allow such sites 
to open is based on more than cost-effectiveness.

"Although economic analyses are necessary inputs to such debates, the 
final decision will also reflect the decision-makers' social and 
political agendas."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom